Snow stress and muscle memory

A bit of S&M recently. The first snowy run a week ago brought with it a slightly scary refresher course in winter running. It was as if I'd never run on snow and ice before. With an altered, heel-crashing stride, my hip flexors didn't like it at all. They had been tight since the Grizzly Ultra and all its crazy downhill trails.

2 days later, it seemed like I'd been running in sub-zero weather all summer. I noticed how I could tell what I was about to step on (what was under the snow - ice or none, etc) by looking at a spot a few metres ahead. That's quite a relief as it's usually this time of year that I'm backing off to fully recover and slowly get used to the (extreme) cold before ramping up for training again in January. No time for that with 4 1/2 weeks till Sacramento.

 

Sunday's 28k run was a little rough. Either going through snow or slush (very porous shoes!) was draining, now I need to revert to out-and-backs on the prepared pathways which will make for rather boring long runs. I had also done hot yoga that morning 4 hours before, instead of the usual saturday late afternoon. I found myself walking up the last hill 1k before the end, about 4 hours of accumulated workout. Not bad considering. When I got to the top, I had to say out loud "and running in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.." Yesterday (monday) I felt to stiff and exhausted to do my recovery run. To my delight though, legs and energy seemed to come back to me in the afternoon.

So, no more yoga before a run on the same day. For November then it's a matter of keeping myself just the healthy side of exhaustion until taper time.

Next stop Sacramento

The California International Marathon is on December 2nd. With some 8,000 runners, it'll be the biggest race I've taken part in. The end of October is usually down time until training begins in January for spring races. In a sense then I'm not looking forward to the next 5 sundays of 24, 28, 30, 32 and 30k. I know however that it'll be worth it for race day, and if I waited until Dec 31 for the ritual of the Resolution Run 5k, I'll be chewing the sofa for want of a race. 

 

The Grizzly Ultra gave my quads such a thrashing on the downhills that it looked like I might end up nursing myself to the startline a little like the Calgary Marathon at the end of May. Right at the top of the hip flexors I could feel a pulling, which is very pronounced when doing a lunge. My chiropractor seemed concerned, and told me to come back in just 2 weeks.

It seems that this trouble is slowly fading though. My first yoga session after the Grizzly worked very well to getting the flexability back. I've avoided any hill work, and take any downward gradient with very short steps. Instead of making wednesdays and fridays long intervals and marathon tempos, I've made them both marathon tempos. The reduction in speed, i.e. the elimination of the long intervals, has helped as well. It might also help in slowing me down at the start and not running at 10k pace in giddy excitement.

The giddy excitement is coming from the Gopro Hero 3 camera I just ordered. The hope is that my headcam vids, an extra passion of mine, will look less earthquaky. I aim to use it as a general camcorder too, helps justify the cost. I am calling it an early Christmas present, though a PB on December 2 would be the real gift.

Grizzly Ultra Canmore race report

"You did an ultra?!" I hear all 3 of you yelling incredulously. Leg 2, at least. I've never done a trail race before, so why not when Rich (of Harvest Half and general fame) asked me to fill a space in his company team.

 

The Canmore Nordic Centre hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic cross-country and biathlon events. I am a complete novice in the trail world, but I think it's a good place for an event like this. There were 5 legs, each starting and finishing at the Nordic Centre. Some were doing it as part of a relay, others solo. My fastest friend Scott was doing the solo, his first ultra. 8 days post-Harvest Half, my aim was to enjoy it and not lose any body parts.

It was sunny most of the day, though slightly chilly. Brent started for us, amidst a field of serious soloists and teams as well as those happy to finish and a team of guys dressed as chickens turkeys.

Back indoors for an hour to keep warm and then my turn. My barely used Salomons got an outing, and my feet had superb grip for the entire leg. I now have a Garmin forerunner 410, a GPS watch, which I still have trouble finding my way around.

I have no idea what I'm doing here.

Brent came in for the handover, and I had to be reminded to take my coat off. Rich, who was going to be doing leg #3, reminded me to take the chip-armband off when I got back for a quick handover.

 

 

My watch went back to normal time mode when I got the chip, so I spent half of the first hill stabbing my wrist getting it going/ set. That was the least of my worries. Having not seen a couple of the signs, I must have taken a hairpin bend too many. Without signs I could see, I followed the 2 guys in front. Their fault. Stopping for a brief conference, I suggested keeping going away from the Nordic centre, and after about 10 minutes saw leg #2 signs again.

 

Most of my leg was spent being passed/ re-passing an experienced trail runner, doing the entire race solo. He would tend to fly past on the downhills and I'd re-pass on the uphills. I tried to follow the line he picked, and also which surface - sometimes the grass edge, or mud or gravel, etc. Some of the rockier sections - 10 cm loose rocks, he was able to effortlessly skip across while I would walk in the fear of turning my ankle.

 

 

One solo lady runner was passing/ repassing me later on in a similar manner. I passed her at the halfway drink stop. When she re-passed I thought she'd disappear into the distance. When I came over a brow however, she was stretching her hamstring. After this, I was swapping places with both of these 2 until the finish of the leg, which was only halfway for them.

 

The view of the Rockies never gets old...

 

 

My 12k leg was, according to my new watch, 12.7 including the wrong turn. I finished up in 1 hour 6 minutes.

 

I had the chip ready to hand over, and Rich arrived from a bio-break a few seconds later. Apparently, I appeared at the top of the hill just seconds before he went.

Rich overtook Scott right at the end of his leg. This was about 38 km into it for Scott by this point, and must be the first time I've seen him looking fatigued.

Nicole headed out for leg #4. My camera work was all over the place (holding headcam in hand), so no action shots I could really use. She's in orange above. Ashley is below, next to guy in black.

I had the camera pointing up at the end, so missed Ashley bringing it home for the team. Quite pleased after the finish though. We finished 12th in the team event, with a time of 4 hours 31 minutes.

 

Scott managed 5th place in the solo event, picking up a couple of places in the last 10k from good pacing.

 

A week later, my hip flexors are somewhat paying for the downhills, though I wouldn't have traded this for mere rest. What new thing's next? A sub-3:20 marathon (road!) on December 2..

 

  

The headcam movie is here. I am seriously contemplating upgrading to a gopro, I would like California International Marathon to not look like I'm disappearing down the San Andreas fault.

Harvest Half Marathon 2012 video

Feeling surprisingly good one week after this best race ever of mine. Once I sat down to watch my headcam vid, I realized I didn't have the strap done up tight enough which limited the amount of non-vertigo inducing footage to choose from. A-Chang suggested I should bow to the inevitable and get a go-pro, an xmas present perhaps.

 

 

Here's the link to the vid, hope it entertains :)

Harvest Half Marathon race report

It doesn't get any better than the Harvest Half Marathon for me. Of the races I'd planned out for this year, this is the one I most wanted to do well at. The weather looked like being ideal, 13 degrees to start, which feels a little colder than it really is at this time of year. It allowed me to line up in a singlet without gloves and not even shiver. The aim was simply to beat my half PB of 1.28:01, set here last year.

 

 

The atmosphere is always light, here I am trying "the beast", though I look more like a jumpy squirrel. Finally got my hands on an official Canada top too.

Rich was in the race again, the 2 of us looking to see what would happen this year. Our elite conference at the start line: "shall we make sure we win the race to the first crossroads?" "Yes, let's own the 30 metre podium."

 

 

Mission accomplished in consecutive years, blaizing a fun but pointless trail. Like last year, dialing it back soon after a few went past. My heart rate monitor went plop down to my waist at that point, so while pulling it back up I looked like I was doing the funky chicken. The belt for my bottles was also loose, so had to tighten that too, and straighten my number which was sticking right out, arrow shaped. Got all that done to see that the only change this year to the course was the road after passing through the 2 boulders had been completed.

 

 

After 2k began the hill(s) up to the Fish Creek Park entrance. That 3.5k seemed to go on longer than it actually did, though my printed wristband had me right on time.

 

 

The reward is the park, with its rolling and twising route that loses all that gained elevation for the next 12km. The very first part is a downhill charge on gravel, and when I slipped a little ended up having to run short and very quick steps so the legs could catch up with the rest of me. This is one of the few sections of the course that I don't run on during the rest of the year.

 

 

I got a few metres in front of Rich here, and started to reel in the next runner ahead, wearing orange. I was with him by the time Votier flats came up at 10 k, I recall my watch saying 41:43.

The signs and my watch didn't agree on distance, so I thought I'd pay less attention to it, finishing time in the published results is the main thing. On straighter parts I could see 7 other runners in front, good motivation. I went past the guy in orange, hearing his shoes "slapping" on the ground.

 

 

Halfway and my watch said 43:14. Was I really on course for a 1.26? Another question 1 or so k later before getting to a crest was "have I bitten off more than I can chew?"

 

 

It made me hesitate to pass the next guy, in a dark blue "UBC" top. Rich caught up with me at that point, and had at least one other person with him, so I thought I would be the pacer and overtook the BC guy, whose speed was going up and down a bit, despite a fine running style. Several of us passed a tall, fairly strongly built guy in red at about the same time, I had guessed that being less wiry would affect his pace late on. Rich passed me soon after, looking strong. He said later he had started to feel his legs coming back to him, though he wasn't completely sure why or how.

 

 

My printed wristband came off, though just before it did I memorised the target time for 18k, which would be after Sikome Hill: 1.15:04. I had been about 1:40 ahead at 15k. Rich was getting ahead, and I struggled to keep up. "Toes and tailbone" I told myself: a reminder to keep my toes down, and lift my tailbone up, for a more efficient posture.

A couple of hundred metres before Sikome Hill, I and many others ahead dropped our pace to gain a bit of energy.

 

 

I went slower than several of them going at a speed that felt as hard as running on flat ground just before. What might have helped me for this hill was the fact that it is run on the road, rather than the pathway just to the right which is at a steeper angle. Hill training for 2 months prior also.
While I had planned to accelarate over the crest of the hill, regaining my speed was rather more gradual than anticipated, though still quicker than last year. I passed another runner, and gradually joined Rich again. Passing 18k, my watch said 1.14:09. Keep pushing, and sub-1.27 might be on the cards.

Passing the "one mile to go" sign, Rich said, "got a 4 minute mile in you?" I had very little left I said, he said the same. The 20k sign sits at the point where the course leaves the road and joins the pathway to the finish. I surged here to avoid both of us going through this bottleneck side by side. There's also a 2 or so metre incline here. I let out a loud groan as I went up it, hearing Rich laugh behind me.

 

 

I thought I'd then catch the next 2 runners, and I slowly brought the gap down. Rounding the last corner and past a mound that reveals the finish line, I thought, "I'll sprint past this one guy". However, my right hamstring tightened a bit, and I felt it might pull me up.

 

 

I knew it wasn't worth it, and I relaxed into the finish.

Thanks to Kristi for this photo

 

 

Spotting A-Chang I did the "Mobot", made famous by Mo Farrah. I think I heard a few laughs, though that might have been the sound of me getting my breath back. "Was that the Mobot?" one of the timing guys asked.

My time was a hugely satisfying 1.26:48. The entire way I had run at what for me was a comfortable 10k pace, couldn't have gone a second quicker. I must've lost track of my race position too, as the results had me further up than I thought: 7th. Age group placing? 6th. Damn you, most competitive age group.

Major kudos to the legendary Rich. When I found him a little later, I got to tell him that he'd won his age group.

 

 

I had said that if I PB'd I would do the "Lightening Bolt". Marks for effort rather than style perhaps, though I had made a legally binding promise which I had to keep. Wouldn't want to jinx the next race, would I?

Last week's log

Sunday before last was the longest sunday run in the lead-up to the Harvest Half Marathon, 24k, in the highest overall weekly amount of running, 71k. The week just gone is the start of the taper, though still comes in at 64k.

Monday 9.5k

Tuesday weights, balancing, drills

Wednesday 6k hill repeats

Thursday weights, balancing, drills, then hot yoga in the evening

Friday 4x 6 minute tempo intervals

Saturday free weights, balancing, drills, 45 minute bike (in place of 9k run)

Sunday 20.9k morning, hot yoga in the afternoon

 

The hills are gasping sessions which are doubtless doing my VO2 max a fair bit of good.

Saturday's free weight routine is still a wobble fest, but again is probably working wonders as its so hard, yet a non-impact addition to my week. The hot yoga helps with concentration, though for me and my record-breaking volumes of sweat its greatest benefit might merely be the practice I get at sweating buckets and carrying on regardless.

Without pushing it I did sunday's run in 1.43:30. Add about a minute if I'd done another 200m to complete a half marathon distance. This with hills, traffic lights (twice) and crowds to get around in the park (don't know why they were all there). Legs are rapidly fixing themselves from "peak week" it seems. Is it the yoga as well? Hard for me to tell, though I certainly feel like a stable running platform.

Harvest Half Marathon preview

This will be my 4th Harvest Half Marathon in a row, a streak I'd like to keep going for decades if I can. I've run part of the course every sunday since before my first Harvest Half in 2009, and before even my first race that year. This will be my 8th half overall, and is my favourite race by far. Here's a preview of what to expect for this race.

By the numbers, there are 8 bridges, 3 underpasses, 2 hills of note, and 4 other short but noticeable upward inclines (a few downward ones too). The course runs west to east through Fish Creek Park, book-ended by road sections of 5.5 and 3.5km. If there is any wind at all, it should be in the runners' favour in the park section.
It starts just after sunrise, and I've noticed over the years a tendancy for many runners to overdress. Check the hourly forecast the day before to see how much it will warm up. It makes sense to "dress cold", you should be warm enough later on. I say this as someone who tends to warm up quickly and sweat a lot, but I've still noticed quite a few jackets tied around the waist over the years, so it's one for each individual to ponder.
This guide is generally written for those, like myself, with a time goal in mind.

The first k can change due to construction in the area, but I'll assume it's like last year. It's at about the 1km sign, on a straight stone road after a couple of 90 degree corners and a slight pinchpoint between 2 boulders, that is ideal to settle into race pace and take stock after the manic-ness of the start.

Just after km2, the course passes under MacLeod Trail and the first hill. It doesn't seem that long, though after the right turn it keeps going for a couple of hundred metres. Between that and the entrance to Fish Creek Park at about 5 1/2k, it's either flat or a little uphill. The 3 km prior to the park entrance is about not letting your pace drop too much, with the exception of the initial uphill.

Just after the park entrance, it's a charge downhill before joining the paved pathways. If by km6 you're at your time goal or close to it, it's most likely going to be a good day. The downhill plunges are places to lift the heels up a little more and gain some speed and time. Some of the inclines mentioned above are long enough to require a slight drop in pace, but can be mitigated a little by speeding up a touch just before and carrying some momentum into the slope.
Between park entrance and Sikome Hill at km17, in addition to handling the undulations as mentioned above, it's worth noting that the "flat" parts are actually mildly downhill. In terms of goal race time, you should and also can run quicker than the average pace required over the entire course.

Sikome Hill should be done at the same effort as the rest of the course. 40-60 seconds will be given up here, so you need to be ahead of schedule before you get to it. Start accelerating just as you get to the top, and before the right turn onto the main road (Sun Valley Blvd). It's easy to settle for a slower pace at the top and only gradually pick up speed. There's 3.5km left at this point, so it's time to push with whatever you have left, safe in the knowledge that the "pacing yourself" part of the race is behind you.

Back to me (!). My times for the Harvest Half are:
2009 - 1.38:07
2010 - 1.33:36
2011 - 1.28:01
Last year's time is also my overall half marathon PB, so this year's goal is to better that, whatever the time ends up at. I could push it a little harder in the middle section of the course compared to last year perhaps.

All in all, my advice for any readers is to savour the occasion, put on your best show and enjoy the endorphins of race day and the rush of the finish line :)